I Still Miss Someone
by MasklessDuckman
Summary: An epic LuMa inspired based on Rhianwen's "Old Quarrels, New Love"
1. Chapter 1

I Still Miss Someone  
  
A Chrono Trigger Fanfic by: MasklessDuckman  
  
This is another Lucca/Magus fanfic, not in any way connected with any of the Magus series. The name of this story is based on a Johnny Cash song, at any rate, I own none of the characters in this story (With the exception of Drago and Kraesh) , so in the same predictable ending as all my opening notes... Enjoy! -MasklessDuckman  
  
Chapter 1: The Problem  
  
The sun became a large orange orb, slowly sinking into the horizon, what sunrays still remained sparkled off of the layer of frost upon the grass. There standing on a cliff looking out on the sea, was a man, this man was approximately Twenty-Three years of age. He had once lived in this land, though then he was a much different person... the man stood on the cliff only staring out at the ocean, his blue hair and purple cape swirling in the wind, his iris eyes darted back and forth across the sea like searchlights, in his right hand was a wicked scythe, it was an object that had made him infamous many years from now. This man was once a prince in a castle in the sky, his name had been Janus Zeal; Janus was the only individual in the Kingdom, aside from his own mother that couldn't use magic. One would think that his mother, being without magic, would sympathize with her child, but no such luck. Janus was ignored and neglected by his wicked mother, the only things that treated Janus with love and respect had been a cat named Alfador, and his own sister... but... his sister had disappeared and he had been sucked into the future, he had been tortured by a group of monsters, raised to be the ultimate magic user, a magus... thus was the name he now went by, Janus Zeal was dead, now only Magus lived. Magus had lived to destroy the monster that separated his sister and himself... he had defeated the monster, defeated Lavos... but so much of his life was devoted to revenge... that now that revenge was given, Magus' life no longer had meaning. He had spent so much time striving to make himself stronger... that he had killed all his emotions, killed Janus... Magus corrected himself, he had one purpose left, to hunt down his sister, praying that she still lived somewhere on this godforsaken planet... she had to. Magus surveyed the crags of ice that floated in the salty waters, Magus reached into his shirt and pulled out a small amulet that his sister Schala had given him years ago, "Always wear it Janus, as long as you wear it, it will keep you safe, and as long as you wear it we will always be together." the words of Schala echoed in his dark soul... "Schala..." Magus said quietly, wishing desperately that his sister was there with him. Magus decided that he was getting nowhere by standing, watching the sun set, he decided to go searching, to find his sister...  
  
The sun sank below the trees, a young girl stared at it through her bedroom window, and the girl was really a woman, twenty years of age. She sat on her bed, watching the sun sink, lower and lower, until darkness engulfed the sky. The sinking sun reminded her so much of her own dark soul, her mother and father had been killed one year ago in a ferry wreck on the way back from Medina village. The girl had once been of good spirits, of pride and joy; those around her regarded her as a genius, a prodigy for her age. But now, all she was was a sad girl mixed up in her own sorrow, she had wished that there was something she could have done, some way that she could have stopped her parent's untimely demise. However, a wise Guru had once said, "To bring back dead loved ones, is a desire that everyone has... But impossible." the girl adjusted her glassed on her face, she brushed her violet colored hair out of her eyes, she had attained her gorgeous hair from here mother, her mother had always told her that she hid her beauty behind her clothing, as she always wore a green tunic, with an orange smock over it, and shorts, and a helmet. What her mother had failed to realize was that it was because of her that the girl strived to be smarter and not worry about such trivial things as love. The girl had a very traumatizing event happen in her childhood, her father was a genius inventor and had many ingenious machines strewn across the house. One particular machine, the girl never quite understood... it was a large conveyer belt... one day her mother had been dusting the machine, despite the girl's father's orders not to... the girl's mother had gotten her dress caught in the conveyer belt, the conveyor rumbled to life and began to pull the woman forward. The machine required a password, but the girl was oblivious to what it might be, she watched in horror as her mother was drug into the machine, the metal gears tearing at her lower body, grinding her bones... the girls mother was crippled for life, but still manage to go about life with a cheerful smile, despite the loss of her legs. The girl's name was Lucca Ashtear, after watching her mother's near death, Lucca vowed to learn more about machines, to become so smart, that nothing like that would ever happen again. Lucca drew her legs up to her chest and hugged them. "Why? Why did you leave me?" Lucca asked no one, a single tear streamed down her creamy white face, and fell upon her lavender nightgown. Lucca had become the soul beneficiary of all her mother and father's possessions, including the island, and house that she had grown up in.   
  
Lucca by all rights had the reason to be happy, she had saved the future from a creature from outer space name Lavos, and she had two best friends... Lucca's heart wrenched. A boy that Lucca had known since early childhood, Crono, had been, the love of her life. Lucca had even hoped and believed that one day her and Crono would get married, her hopes where however dashed at the Millennial Fair three long years ago, as Lucca waited at her telepod display at the fair. Crono had walked into the square, a very pretty blonde with him, prettier then Lucca. As time went on, the girl who called herself Marle had revealed herself as the princess of Gaurdia. However, every time that Lucca saw Marle hold hands with Crono, give him a soft kiss, hug him, or even stare at him affectionately, a hot knife would twist in Lucca's heart. Lucca had come to accept that her and Crono where just not meant to be... but who was meant for her? Not Frog..., certainly not Robo... There was only one other human male in the party, but trying to gain his affection and love would be as pointless as trying to squeeze water from a rock. Magus was a cold tortured soul who loved only his older sister Schala... Lucca had to face it, she would die alone... she might as well start getting cats, and reading romance novels. Lucca tucked herself between the blankets upon her bed, and cried herself to sleep. What had she done to bring this sort of torment upon herself?   
  
Magus' iris eyes surveyed the ground below him, she had been here, he could sense her aura, and it had been here. Magus followed the tracks in the snow... he sensed her, she was here... she must be alive. Magus walked a good ten miles before he found the end of the tracks; his sister's aura was very close by... Magus walked through a frozen forest and came upon his loving sister, her body trembling, most of her robes gone, covered in scars. "Schala!" Magus said rushing over to his sister. "Prophet?" Schala asked. "No Schala, it's me... ...Janus." Magus said holding his sister. "Janus... oh my how you have grown. I am so glad you have come, I always wanted to say goodbye to you Janus... I was afraid you had perished, but now... you can listen to my last words." Schala said stroking Magus' long hair. "No Schala. You can't die; you can't leave me here alone." Magus pleaded. Schala placed a frozen hand on Magus' head, "Janus, you are the greatest little brother a girl could ever have... I love you." Schala said, her breathing becoming more and more labored as she kissed Janus on the forehead, Schala's eyes suddenly glazed over, and her breathing stopped, he body fell limply to the ground. "Schala? Schala! Schala!!!" Magus said shaking his sister's corpse, in hopes that she was simply unconscious... no such luck. Magus flung himself upon the ground, his hands over his eyes, Magus did something that he had not done in years... ...he cried.   
  
Magus gave Schala a proper burial on Earthbound Island, now his life truly had no meaning. Magus had lived for two reasons, to get revenge on Lavos, and to find Schala. Both done, Magus had nothing, his life was pointless. There was no possible reason to go on. Magus took Schala's pendent and placed it around his neck with his amulet, suddenly an eerie glow emanated from both the pendant and the amulet, with a flash of blue, both merged. Magus lifted up the new amulet in his hand, it was a bluish green hue, and he looked closer and saw the face of his sister smiling at him. Magus arched an eyebrow at this, the image began to... wave at him. Had Schala somehow preserved her soul in the pendant? Suddenly the new amulet began to glow brightly, and it floated out of Magus' hands, a large portal opened, it looked like a gate... but it was larger... much larger.  
  
Lucca awoke to hear a crash in her basement, "What the hell?" Lucca asked herself, grabbing her gun just in case. Lucca quietly tiptoed through the dark house, slowly making her way to the basement. She slowly opened the door, a shaft of light slowly growing as the door creaked open. Lucca quietly walked down the steps, her gun pointed in front of her, Rattle there was a sound; it was coming from where she put all of the pieces of the Epoch. Lucca saw a tall shadow sit up inside the pilot's seat, with catlike reflexes; she ran to the seat and clocked the shadow on the head with the butt of her pistol. The large creature fell unconscious to the floor. Lucca lifted the man up by the shoulders, he was rather large and heavy, and somehow seemed familiar. Lucca drug the man into the living room and turned on the lights, there lying on the couch was a former ally of hers, a tall muscular man, with blue hair and red eyes, his long pointy ears jutting out from either side of his head. "Magus?" Lucca questioned herself. Magus groaned and sat up, rubbing his soar head. "I'll get you for that poindexter." Magus growled painfully. "How? How did you get here?" Lucca questioned the warlock. "I found Schala... she... she died in my arms. I had buried her, and taken her pendant, when her pendant and my amulet came in contact, they merged. Some sort of portal opened, and the next thing I knew I looked up to get clocked over the head." Magus growled, still rubbing his head, shooting Lucca a "Payback will be swift and painful" look. "Look I'm sorry. It's not often that warlocks come crashing into my basement at four in the morning!" Lucca barked angrily. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Magus smirked slightly. "Well, I guess you're in trouble now, because the gates are closed, and the Epoch's in pieces." Lucca said, ignoring the warlock's previous comment. "Oh good god, now I'm stuck here with you? A fate worse than death." Magus said. "Or how about this, you get your pale ass off my couch and out of my house." Lucca fumed, pointing at the door. "Why do you keep referring to this as YOUR house?" Magus asked, raising an eyebrow. "My... my parent's left it to me... when they died." Lucca said. "Died? How long have I been gone?" Magus asked. "Roughly three years." Lucca said staring down at the carpet. "Look, you can stay on the couch tonight; tomorrow we can try and fix the Epoch to take you home." Lucca said. "Whatever." Magus said and rolled over. Lucca went upstairs and went to bed.   
  
A mere three hours later, Lucca awoke to the ringing of her alarm clock. Lucca drug herself out of bed and down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Lucca put some bacon on the grill, "Hey Magus! Do you want any breakfast? Magus?" Lucca asked. Lucca walked in the living room, and looked around. Had that all been a dream, suddenly a hand placed itself on her shoulder. Lucca almost shot through the roof, she turned to see Magus. "Magus! Good god, don't do that. You took ten years off my life." Lucca said clutching her rapidly beating heart. "Damn. I was aiming for twenty." Magus said, a half smirk, which was barely noticeable appearing on his face. "Did he just make a joke?" Lucca asked herself. "No breakfast for me." Magus said and went and sat on the couch. "Okay, your loss." Lucca lied. Lucca quit possibly was the worst cook in the entire world, she could burn spaghetti.   
  
Lucca, with her breakfast of charcoal eggs and bacon walked into the living room and sat her self down on the couch next to Magus. Magus looked at the scorched food on her plate, "You know that your supposed to cook it, not set it on fire, right?" Magus asked. Lucca shoved a piece of egg in her mouth, and it crunched as she chewed on it. "Shut up." was all Lucca said, before turning back to her breakfast. "Did you burn the orange juice too?" Magus asked. "I said shut up!" Lucca replied. Suddenly Marle walked in the door, "Lucca, I know you're sad. However, Crono and I are.... Oh... I see you have company." Marle said, gazing oddly at them. "You appear to have gotten over your trouble." Marle said. Lucca looked down and realized that she was wearing her nightgown, and all that Magus was wearing was his pants. "This is NOT what it looks like!" Lucca said. "He wound up here last night, something to do with his amulet, and he wound up in my basement." Lucca said. "And then you..." Marle began to say. "No!!" both Magus and Lucca said before she could finish, Magus had a very disgusted look on his face. "You two where pretty quick to dismiss that." Marle smiled. "What do you hate most Marle?" Magus asked. "Spiders. Why?" Marle asked. "Oh no reason." Magus said. Suddenly a hole opened above Marle's head and spiders spilled out all over her. "Ahhhh!" Marle screamed and ran out the door as fast as she could. "That was mean." Lucca said. "They weren't poisonous, or at least I don't think they where. Besides, if it was so mean, then why are you smiling?" Magus replied. "Okay okay, I admit it, that was hilarious; she'll be in Porre by the time she gets those things off." Lucca said laughing. "Yes, now if your finished with your charcoal. May we start working on the Epoch?" Magus asked. "I really do not wish to linger in this horrid place longer than needed." Magus added. "Alright, the sooner you're gone, the sooner I can relax." Lucca said going upstairs, "I gotta go get dressed. I'll be back in five minutes." Magus sighed, and then nodded. Magus slipped on his shirt, followed by his bronze armor, then his cape, and then finally his boots and gloves. Lucca descended the stairs, "Okay. Let's get to work!" Lucca said.   
  
There was much work to be done, as Lucca had completely dismantled the time machine. "Magus, I need your help." Lucca said. "What is it?" Magus asked reluctantly, walking over. "Okay, I need you to hold these two wires, while I solder them." Lucca said. Magus grabbed the two wires, as he was told and held them together. Lucca climbed atop the Epoch and hung upside down by her legs. "You're going to fall." Magus said. "I'll be fine, now hold the wires." Lucca said. Lucca's purple hair, which was much longer than it used to be, hung down in Magus' face. The hair tickled at Magus' nose, Magus tried to hold back, but he just couldn't, he sneezed. The sneeze surprised Lucca, and she jumped, as she jumped her hand slipped, running liquid metal all down Magus' right arm from the soldering iron. Magus roared in pain and jumped up, on the way up, Lucca fell from her perch, onto Magus, the two fell into the back of the Epoch amongst all of the wires. The electricity spread through both their bodies and electrified them, suddenly Magus' new amulet began to glow, with a flash of blue light, Magus and Lucca where gone in a flash. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: I'm Stuck With You?!?  
  
"Oh...." Lucca said, rubbing her throbbing head, her arms and legs still shaky from the jolt. Lucca spotted Magus nearby; she walked up to him and poked at him with the handle of his scythe. Magus sat up and said, "Can't a man die in peace?" "No, you're not dying before me." Lucca said. "Okay fine, I'll kill you first." Magus said rubbing his head. "So when are we four eyes?" Magus asked. "I don't know donkey ears." Lucca said angrily, Magus was on Lucca in seconds, holding her by her shirt against the wall. "Would you care to repeat that?" Magus asked, his fangs bared. "Certainly. I don't know, DONKEY EARS!" Lucca inquired. "You had better rethink your choice of words. Or you may find yourself in a less than pleasant form." Magus said. "You don't have the guts pasty." Lucca growled back at him. An evil smile appeared on Magus' face and a bolt of lightning came from Magus' hands, Lucca began to glow. "You... You... Actually did it." Lucca said as she began to shrink. Magus smirked as Lucca's arms where replaced by wings, and four more legs appeared on her midsection. Lucca was a moth. "You jerk!" Lucca said angrily. "Now, do you take back what you said?" Magus asked. "Okay, yes I apologize." Lucca said and Magus turned her back. "How come you never did that to Frog?" Lucca asked. "His was a more permanent version of the spell." Magus replied. "Ah, I see. I should fry you for doing that." Lucca said. "Not that it would ever do any good, as long as I don't use any fire magic, you can't harm me." Magus said. "So that magic barrier finally came back huh?" Lucca asked. "It took a few years, but yes." Magus replied.   
  
"So... I wonder where we are." Lucca inquired. "In a cave, I thought you where supposed to be the smart one." Magus said. "Thank you captain obvious, I meant where are we besides in a cave?" Lucca asked. "Well, there's only one way to find out." Magus replied. Magus walked out of the cave, they where at the bottom of a mountain, it was a barren land, aside from an oasis nearby. "We're in a desert." Magus said. Lucca walked out to confirm what he said, "So, we're stuck here." Lucca said. "Lovely, I'm stuck in a desert cave with an obnoxious scientist, what sort of god condones this?" Magus asked. "Aw what's the matter Magus? Afraid I'll find out about the crush you have on me?" Lucca asked laughing. "The pure thought of being in love with you sickens me." Magus replied dryly. "Oh, and like I'm really thrilled to be with you." Lucca said to Magus. "You are the third to last person I would rather be stuck with." Magus remarked. "Third? Who are the first two?" Lucca asked. "Number one is that insufferable blonde woman Crono is in love with. If I was forced to be with her, I would have killed her by now." Magus said. Lucca laughed. "Number two is Ayla. She annoys me the way she talks." Magus said. "You're just embarrassed to be around her because she can kick your butt, and you wouldn't want to have your appearance damaged by being beat up by a girl." Lucca remarked. "Please, she can't even use magic." Magus said, gazing at the hot sands. "That's why you're such a weakling." Lucca remarked. Magus was not pleased by this remark, and within seconds she was back pinned by the wall, Magus' scythe at her neck. "What do you mean I am a weakling? Thousands fear me, I have killed countless families, burned countless villages, my name strikes fear in the hearts of thousands!" Magus said, his eyes seemed to glow as he said this. "Yeah, you had an army, and even though you don't now, you hide behind your magic, and that farming tool. I bet I could beat you up if you fought hand to hand." Lucca said. An evil smirk appeared on Magus' face, he removed his cape and armor, showing his pale chest. "Let's test that theory four eyes, I will be nice, I won't even punch you in the face." Magus said.   
  
Lucca had led Magus outside on the large piece of sandstone just outside of the cave. "Okay, no weapons, and no magic." Lucca said. Magus nodded in agreement. Magus was obviously faster than Lucca, plus the fact that he was taller than her by about two feet. Magus rushed toward her and threw a punch at Lucca; Lucca dodged out of the way and laid a punch to Magus' solarplexes. Magus gasped for air, but with a sweep of his leg, knocked Lucca off her feet. Magus placed his foot on Lucca's neck, Lucca gasped for air as Magus applied pressure to her neck. Lucca began hammering on his shin with her fists, to no avail. Magus smiled, "Had enough?" Lucca kicked her right leg back and knocked Magus off his left foot, he came crashing down. Lucca stood up and placed a good kick on the side of his ribs, Magus hopped to his feet, Lucca laid a good punch to Magus, a stream of blood rolled from his broken nose. Magus in a flash of blue, was directly behind Lucca, he lifted his arms up under hers and locked them behind her head, putting her in a full nelson. Lucca kicked Magus in the kneecaps, but he didn't seem to mind. Magus lifted Lucca up by her shirt and threw her to the stony ground; Magus kicked her hard in the back. Lucca coughed up a mouthful of blood, but that didn't stop her as she once again knocked Magus to the ground. She drug him by his hair to a nearby rock, she held his head up by his hair, and repeatedly punched him in the face, she then began to smack his head against the rock, Magus' vision became blurred, but he managed to get his arms around Lucca's neck and strangle her. Lucca's vision began to fade and she began to lose consciousness, she let her fist fly with its remaining power, and though she couldn't see it, she hit something, and a loud snap was heard. Magus screamed in pain, his left arm was bent in the wrong direction; she had somehow broken it with her punch. Magus blind with rage threw the girl to the ground, and attempted to move the bone back in place. As Magus was busy, Lucca laid a kick to his head and he was out like a light.   
  
Magus awoke, his head hurt a great deal, he surveyed the area, there was a fire in front of him, his arm was set and bandaged with an orange cloth, then suddenly a smirking face with purple hair and glasses emerged. "You got beat up by a giiiirl!" Lucca taunted. "Yes that's lovely, now do me a favor." Magus said. "What?" Lucca asked. "Reach into my belt, the third pocket from my left, take out that flask." Magus said. Lucca did so and came out with a metal flask, Magus grabbed it and holding it between his knees, screwed the lid off, he tipped it back and some of the cuts on his body mended, some of the bruises went away, and his nose was mended. "Whew. Good thing I brought that tonic." Magus said, placing the bottle back in his pocket. Lucca grabbed it from his hand and finished the bottle. "Hey! Get your own." Magus said, somewhat angrily, but mostly tired. "I won, I deserve this. If you must know, I have some cracked ribs." Lucca said. "Oh, whine about it why don't you. You don't have and serious injuries, I have a broken arm and a head trauma." Magus said dryly. Magus reached into his belt, pulled out a second flask, and emptied it into his mouth, removing some of the throbbing from his head. "Lucca, in one of my back pockets is an elixir, get it for me and I'll let you have some." Magus said. "It's about time you saw me as an equal and admitted your defeat." Lucca said and smiled as she reached into the back pocket on his belt, snap Lucca screamed in pain, and drew back her had, it was broken and bleeding, a large rattrap clamped tightly around it. A smile formed on Magus' face, "Is this your idea of a joke you sick bastard?" Lucca asked, gazing at her broken hand. "Oh, but it gets crueler from here." Magus said. "How?" Lucca asked, still looking at her hand. Magus grabbed her glasses, and disappeared into a shadow as he often did. "Hey, come back here with those. I can't see a thing without them. I'm blind without them, come on, give me my glasses." Lucca pleaded, groping the ground, her voice getting more and more desperate with each word. "Please, please Magus. Give me back my glasses." Lucca said, tears forming in her eyes, she rolled into a fetal position and began to sob. Magus put Lucca's glasses in her hand, "Have a nice life poindexter. I'm on my own from now on; Lucca saw the blur that was Magus walking out the entrance.  
  
Magus walked several yards outside the cave, suddenly a rumbling caught his attention, a large lizard began to hiss at him rather loudly, the lizard began to give a shrieking cry, Magus gazed wonderingly at the lizard as it cried and screamed, suddenly the low rumbling got louder. The lizard was suddenly absorbed in a pillar of sand that shot from the ground, a creature similar to a giant sting ray flew from the ground and ate the lizard in one bite, then dove beneath the sand. Magus suddenly realized that being out in the middle of the desert wasn't such a good idea, he could see the ray circle around him slowly, and suddenly a voice came from behind him, "Well good riddance! I hate you, you stupid jerk!!!" Lucca's voice came from behind him; Magus turned around and placed a finger to his lips. "Don't tell me to be quiet! I hope you die of sunstroke out there!" Lucca yelled. Suddenly the ray circling centimeters below the sand around Magus went towards Lucca, and several more followed it, Lucca kept yelling, as the sand rays got closer. Magus ran as quickly as he could back to the cave, hoping he could make it there and save himself and Lucca in time. Magus gave a running dive and tackled Lucca as the sand rays attacked all at once, one snagged Magus by the leg as Lucca fell to the large piece of sandstone. "Magus!" Lucca screamed running towards him, "No!!! Don't go on the sand, they can burrow through it and hunt by sound. Stay there!" Magus said, as he was being slowly drug into the hot sand by the ray, Lucca ran inside and came back out with her gun, she fired a shot that nailed the ray, it let out a loud screech and released Magus, Magus crawled to the slab of sandstone and into the cave. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Trapped Between a Rock and a Hard Place  
  
"What where those things?" Lucca asked, tearing a strip of fabric from her orange smock to tie around Magus' injured leg. "Some sort of sand rays. I don't know, it does mean we're trapped." Magus said. Lucca finished tying the bandage around Magus' leg and punched him in the jaw. "Magus, I swear to god, if you ever do anything like you did before you left. I'll take you out and feed you to those things." Lucca hissed. Magus reached into his belt and pulled out a bottle, "Ultra Elixir. I was saving it for emergencies, only take a drop or two, this stuff is potent." Magus said handing the bottle to Lucca, she took his word and put a couple drops on her tongue and swallowed them. Her hand mended immediately, as well as all the bumps and scratches on her. Magus took four drops, as he was worse off. Magus' arm mended and his leg stopped bleeding. "I... I'm sorry Lucca." Magus said flexing his left arm to make sure everything worked fine. "Did... Did you just apologize?" Lucca asked feeling his forehead. Magus smiled slightly, but it was not a devious smile, it was a loving smile. "Wow, you smiled and your face didn't crack." Lucca giggled. Magus rolled his eyes, but the smile didn't disappear from his face.   
  
"Well, this is probably a stupid question, but how will we get food and water?" Lucca asked. They where standing outside now, on the large slab of sandstone, gazing at the nearby oasis. Magus scooped up Lucca in his arms and levitated to the oasis. "Voila." Magus said setting her down. "Well, that's good and all. But we have nothing to carry it in." Lucca said. Magus gave Lucca a confused look and arched his eyebrow out at her, "What?" Lucca asked. "Tell me Lucca. What are pitchers for carrying water made from?" Magus asked. "Glass." Lucca said. "And what is glass made from?" Magus asked. "Sand." Lucca said. "So??" Magus said. "But we don't have any san... oh." Lucca said blushing. "How is it that you can be so smart, but at the same time so stupid?" Magus asked. "There's still the problem of forming it though, we can melt it using my magic, but forming it into shapes will not be easy." Lucca said. "Maybe you could build it one small piece at a time; it would look deformed, but serve its purpose." Magus said. "Wow, you can actually make yourself useful." Lucca said. "You know I could leave you here and go back to the cave." Magus said. "Oh alright." Lucca said. Lucca hopped up in Magus' arms and they floated back to the cave.   
  
They went to bed that night hungry and tired. Lucca slept like a rock, but Magus found it hard to sleep that night, not only because of Lucca's snoring, but because he was worrying how they would ever get out of this place. Magus noticed that Lucca's snoring had stopped, he gazed over at her and she was trembling, Magus concurred, it was freezing, but when you live in a frozen wasteland, you get used to the cold or die. Magus removed his cape and placed it on Lucca's trembling body, Lucca snuggled in it, and in her sleep, her arms latched around Magus' waste. Magus tried to remove her hands, but he just couldn't, finally he just gave up and went to sleep, Lucca nestled her head against his chest.  
  
Lucca was the first to awake the next morning, she looked and saw that not only was she covered up by Magus' cloak, she was holding him in her arms. Lucca blushed a little bit, Magus appeared to be sound asleep, so Lucca decided to creep carefully along the wall of the mountain to reach the oasis, she went in amongst the palm trees, and began to remove her clothing, though she had no soap, she could still take what could be called a bath and remove some of the dried blood from her skin. After Lucca had removed her clothes, she slowly walked in the water, it wasn't too cold, it was really refreshing, she scrubbed the dirt, sweat, and blood from her hair first, then for awhile she mostly just swam around in the warm water and enjoyed it, after Lucca was done, she went and sat on a large rock that was next to the pool, she had the full intention of waiting until she was completely dry. A wolf whistle came from behind her, she turned around expecting to see Magus spying on her, but instead it was a man wearing a large white trench coat, he had reddish purple hair, and obviously armor on under the coat, as his right shoulder was much larger than the left and had metal spikes protruding from it, on his left shoulder was some sort of large metal box, he had a cross shaped scar on his left cheek, and his eyes where a yellow amber. Lucca quickly ran to her clothes and covered herself; she grabbed her gun and pointed it at him. "Who are you?" Lucca asked, pointing the gun at him. The man laughed and said, "Hey, relax honey. I'm not here to hurt you. The name's Drago. I'm a hunter." Drago said, giving a proud smile. Suddenly a large pale muscular arm reached around Drago's neck and pressed the tip of a scythe to it. "What do you want here?" Magus asked. "Whoa, hey don't vampires hate sunlight?" Drago joked; Magus was not in a joking mood. "Hey whoa, I hunt those sand rays. Relax, I didn't know that hottie over there had a husband." Drago said, gazing rather worriedly at the scythe pointed at his trachea. Lucca now blushed redder than she was before, at the thought that Drago thought they where a couple. "Magus, put him down. I'll get dressed and we'll have a talk with him." Lucca said, Magus gave her an "are you stupid?" look, but pulled his scythe away from Drago's neck and flew him over to the cave.   
  
Lucca carefully made her way back to the cave and walked in, "So Drago, why are you out here?" Lucca asked. "I told you, I'm a sand ray hunter. I hunt those subterranean monsters." Drago said. "How, you have no weapons." Magus said. "Like hell I don't." Drago said lifting up the metal box, "This is a multi shot, subterranean missile launcher, with titanium tips and a hair trigger. These suckers can follow a sand ray for hours before the power runs out." Drago said, holding up a missile in his hand. "First of all, I would like to correct you, we are not married, nor are we dating, we are not even friends. I once helped her destroy a creature named Lavos, it is a long story how we got stuck here, but it involves a time machine." Magus said. "That was you guys? Oh man, my dad used to tell me the story of how you people destroyed that overgrown porcupine. That must mean that you're Magus, and you must be Lucca. Oh man, this is awesome." Drago said. "He obviously learned to speak from the same person as you did Lucca." Magus said looking at the violet haired girl in front of him. "Drago, what year is this?" Lucca asked. "3020." Drago replied. "Could you take us to a town?" Lucca asked. "No... I can't. There isn't a town on this continent." Drago replied. "Then why are you here?" Lucca asked. "To hunt. The sand rays only live on this continent. I live here, so I can't help you." Drago said. "Alright. Well, we'll see you Drago." Lucca said. "Yep, see ya later." Drago said and waved goodbye. "An odd man." Magus said rubbing his chin. "I agree... Hey, what was the deal with you cuddled up with me this morning? Magus drew his cape over his face to where you could see nothing below his eyes; this did a fair job of hiding the redness in his cheeks. "I put my cape over you because you where shivering in your sleep, then when I did so you put a death grip around my waist and refused to let go, I just decided to give up and go to sleep after several minutes of trying to pry your hands off." Magus replied. "Oh..." was all Lucca said. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: It Get's Worse  
  
It had been three weeks since Magus and Lucca had wound up in 3020 A.D. The cave was now littered with several glass bowls and jars, even some silverware. Magus and Lucca had become what could be called friends, and Magus was acting human, not near as cold as he used to. Lucca sat in the cave, sleeping for now... Magus walked in the door, a large lizard hoisted over his shoulder. Magus immediately sat down and set to work cleaning the lizard to prepare it for eating. (Mmm... Desert Reptile. -M.D.) Magus took a knife from his belt and began to cut loose the scaly skin. Lucca turned in her sleep, a slight smile appeared on her face. Magus looked over to her, "Mmmm. Goodbye Mom and Dad, have a nice cruise!" Lucca said in her sleep. Magus ignored her and went back to the lizard, "What? They've been killed in a boat wreck? Why god why? Why do you do this to me?!?!?!?" Lucca screamed so loud that Magus could no longer ignore her; he went over to her side and shook her awake. Lucca opened her eyes, tears streaming down her face... "They left me... They left me all alone... Why?" Lucca asked no one. Magus pulled her tight to comfort her, as a mother would a child who had a nightmare. Magus stroked her violet hair and said, "It's okay... My father died when I was an infant, and my mother was basically dead in my eyes... I know what you're going through." Truth be told, Magus had had dreams like Lucca's about Schala, he would see her in the ocean palace, and she would be crushed by rocks, or killed by Lavos, it was a terrible experience that was only stopped when a mystic would hit him in the back to tell him, "No crying!" Lucca sobbed for several moments, but then got her wits about her and said, "Thank you Magus." "You're welcome... I'm probably a lot more comforting about these dreams than Ozzie was." Magus replied. Magus picked up his knife and returned to skinning the lizard.   
  
"Magus?" Lucca asked all of the sudden. "Yes?" Magus asked looking up from the lizard. "Magus, how do I come off... as a person?" Lucca asked. "You come of as an arrogant genius, who tries to hide her true feelings under geekiness." Magus replied. "Really? Am I that transparent?" Lucca asked. "That and more." Magus replied. "Well I can see through you too!" Lucca said. "How so?" Magus asked. "You try to act like this dark emotionless madman, but in reality you're just a sad man who misses his sister." Lucca replied. There was a slight twinge in Magus' face that was barely noticeable, but Lucca caught it. "Magus?" Lucca asked. "...Yes?" Magus asked. "...Was your mother, ever a nice woman?" Lucca asked. "Schala told me that she had been at one time... but as soon as Lavos appeared and I was born... things changed..." Magus replied. "It must have been terrible growing up without a mother who loved you." Lucca said. "I wish it was just that she didn't love me, she at least would have acknowledged my existence. But my mother disowned me, as far as she was concerned, she had no son." Magus replied, not looking up from the lizard, Lucca could see torture and pain in his eyes. "In reality, the mystics where kinder than my own mother. Sure, they where mean, and beat me up often... but they fed me, taught me things, and at least acknowledged that I was born!!!! My mother was a witch and I hated her when I was a child, and I hate her more now, she caused Schala's death!!! She disowned me because I couldn't use magic, when in reality she was no better at it herself!!!!!" Magus said and threw the lizard down; he walked out of the cave, his eyes glowing with anger.   
  
Magus sat out on the large slab of sandstone and gazed off into the dark desert, the moon was glowing down upon him. Lucca walked out to the angry warlock, "Magus... I'm sorry if I brought up some bad memories..." Lucca said. "No... It's not your fault... I got myself worked up over what's done and over with. You can't change the past, only the future." Magus said, the moonlight glinting off his eyes. "I guess we know something about changing the future." Lucca said. A half smile appeared on Magus' face. "C'mon lets go finish gutting that lizard so we can eat it." Lucca said, and then stuck her tongue out in a disgusted way, "I never thought I'd hear myself say that." she said, and they both went inside.  
  
The next morning they woke up to see a large man stooped over their fire. "May I ask who you are?" Magus asked. "Ah, g'day! Names Kraesh Stokes, noice to meet ya." the man said, offering his hand to Magus, Magus just sat there. "What are you doing here?" Magus asked. "Well, y'see. I was dumped 'ere when me plane was jacked. I got a replacement around ere; I just forget where I put it. At any rate, I was walkin around last noight lookin' for it, and freezin me bloomin knickers off, when I saw ya fire. I just came over to warm meself up, hope that isn't a problem?" Kraesh asked. "No... No it's fine." Magus replied. Kraesh was about four feet taller than Magus was, he was a bulky man, he had a beard stained with tobacco juice, many parts of his face where replaced with metal, he had no hair, and his right eye was missing, replaced with a metal plate. He wore a stained green shirt, brown pants, and a pair of combat boots. Lucca was already awake and had heard everything. "You said you had a plane, if we where to help you find it, would you take us to the mainland?" Magus asked. "I could. But it's gonna cost ye mate." Kraesh said. "I don't have any money." Magus replied. "Ye don't need money. Me price is simple." Kraesh said. "What?" Magus asked, arching his eyebrows. "One night, with the girl over there." Kraesh said. Lucca got a look of fear in her eyes, she looked at Magus as if she was scared, did she actually believe he would agree to this man's terms? "No... You make me sick. To think, you would force a lady to do that with you." Magus said. "Well, that wasn't nice. Ye hurt me feelins. So I'll take the girl anyway." Kraesh said. "Over my dead body." Magus said, stepping between Kraesh and Lucca. "Can do mate." Kraesh said. Magus took out his scythe, but Kraesh grabbed it and threw it across the cave. Kraesh grabbed Magus in a bear hug and began to squeeze, Magus grunted in pain as he heard several of his ribs crack and break. Magus' hands where bound, so magic was out of the question, he did something he was repulsed at the thought of. Magus bared his fangs and sunk them into Kraesh's arm, Kraesh picked Magus up by the neck and threw him against the cave wall, and Magus hit his head on a large rock, and was knocked out. Kraesh began to walk slowly towards Lucca, Lucca cast Flare, which hurt Kraesh a great deal, "Ah, a feisty little Sheila ain't ye." Kraesh said, "We'll just have to make sure that don't happen again." Kraesh grabbed Lucca's glasses and threw them to the floor, and carried Lucca kicking and screaming out of the cave, leaving the unconscious and bleeding Magus. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Chase  
  
Magus woke up, his head was bleeding, and his bones felt broken. Magus pulled himself to sit up, his breathing was labored, and he suspected a piece of rib had punctured a lung. Magus reached into his belt, "Please tell me it's here." Magus said to himself rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out the flask of Ultra Elixir and took a swig. Magus could feel his ribs mend, his breathing became more normal, and his head stopped bleeding. Magus pulled himself to his feet and picked up his scythe off the ground. He gathered up Lucca's gun and glasses off the floor, the frames could be spared, but the lenses where trash. Magus put these items in his belt and flew off across the desert.  
  
Lucca couldn't see where she was, just knew that she was blind. For some reason the sand rays strayed away from Kraesh, for what reason Lucca didn't know. Everything was a blur, but she was sure they were alone. Lucca didn't know how long Magus would take to wake up, or if he'd wake up at all. Then a frightened thought hit her, what if Magus was killed? What if he never came? This guy was definitely going to have his way with her, probably kill her too. Lucca wished she hadn't dropped her gun, or her glasses. Lucca hoped to leave a trail, so she grabbed a piece of old wood and began to draw a line behind them.  
  
"Lucca, you're a damn genius!" Magus said as he followed the line that Lucca had drawn, as for some reason this guy left no footprints. Magus flew as fast as he possibly could, he was going to fry Kraesh, and he was going to make sure that man was awake for the entire time. Magus just hoped that Lucca's screaming hadn't scared up a sand ray, as he didn't want Lucca to die, and he wanted to be the one to kill Kraesh. Magus followed the line up to a mountain, "There must be a switch here somewhere." Magus said, examining the rock face, Magus groped the wall, looking for a switch or a button. Magus grasped a protruding stone and pulled it down, the rock face lifted and Magus entered the dark tunnel.  
  
There where no torches or candles in the tunnel, fortunately Magus had excellent night vision. Magus was sure to fly because he didn't know what sort of traps there where. Magus observed what he could, there where all sort of untasteful paintings of women and bottles of cheap wine everywhere. "It looks like Flea's room in here." Magus thought to himself.   
  
Lucca could only see darkness now, whoever Kraesh was; he had good night vision... Lucca was dragged into a small room. Lights where turned on, from what Lucca could gather through her blurred vision, it was a nasty looking room with an old bed on an old mattress. Kraesh was right in front of her, she didn't need sight to know what the look on his face was. "I ain't had me a woman in four years." Kraesh said. "Why not try for an even five?" Lucca asked, smiling nervously. "You're funny. I like that, now take off your clothes." Kraesh said. "I will do no such thing!" Lucca replied. "I asked nicely... Now do it or I'll make ye!!" Kraesh said. "No!!!" Lucca replied. The hulking blur that was Kraesh began to slowly walk towards Lucca. Lucca felt a large hand go over her mouth and a pill was slipped in. "Now swallow the pill like a good little girl." Kraesh said, plugging Lucca's nose. Lucca reluctantly swallowed the pill, suddenly colors began to dance around the room, rainbows and pink bunny rabbits, Lucca suddenly became very fascinated with her hand. Lucca felt the felling of her shirt being pulled off her, but she didn't care, her hand was more interesting at the time.  
  
Magus found a door; he peeked through a crack and saw Kraesh removing Lucca's shirt, Lucca was gazing at her left hand in front of her face, a dazed look in her eyes. "She's drugged." Magus said to himself. Magus grabbed his scythe and kicked the door down. Kraesh turned around and got the Doom Sicle caught in his left arm, it hung there, the blade planted in the shoulder. "Now, I was busy. That was bloomin rude." Kraesh said. Magus cast a lightning spell, that didn't seem to harm the behemoth of a man. "This time I'll make sure yer dead." Kraesh said. Magus hurriedly chanted the strongest spell he knew, "Dark Matter!" Magus shouted and the familiar spell hit Kraesh like a ton of bricks. Kraesh, despite his wounds, fought through the pain and continued to walk towards Magus. Magus quickly chanted Dark Mist and the black fog began to eat at Kraesh's flesh. Kraesh didn't even flinch, and Magus knew from first hand that this spell would make the toughest of men scream in pain and agony. This man was inhuman. Kraesh landed a solid blow on Magus before he could chant another spell; Kraesh's oversized hand knocked the wind out of Magus, making another spell impossible for now. Magus reached into his belt and pulled out Lucca's gun, he pointed it at Kraesh's eye and fired. It might not bring Kraesh down, but at least it would render him blind. Magus fired several shots at Kraesh, Kraesh, though now blind, was still basically invulnerable. Kraesh managed to grab Magus around the waist and began to squeeze. Suddenly from behind the door came the familiar form of Drago. "Put him down Kraesh!" Drago said. "Who's there? Drago, s'at you? Why you little Expletive Deleted!! I oughtta break you in half you little chicken Expletive Deleted!!!" Kraesh replied. "Fine. Do that, now put the man down!" Drago said. The metal plate on Kraesh's eye lifted up to show a yellow reptile like eye, Kraesh's voice was deeper and more fearsome now, and the stupid accent was gone, he spoke, "You will die Dragon Hunter... I will be sure of it..." Kraesh dropped Magus. "Go! I can handle lizard brains!" Magus scooped up Lucca in his arms, she was singing, "Smooooke on the waaaaaterrr. A fire in the skyyyyy. Smooooooke on the waaaater. Deh deh deh deh deh deh deh. Deh deh deh deh deh." Lucca even sang out the guitar solo. Magus flew out of the room, he saw a plane. Magus hopped in the pilot's seat, sat Lucca in the copilot seat, and strapped her in. "C'mon c'mon. This thing can't be more complicated than the Epoch." Magus said to himself as he fumbled with the buttons and switches. The engine roared to life, and little jets on the bottom of the wings began to lift the plane up. Magus pulled back on the control stick and the plane took off, from the distance, Magus could see an explosion. Magus had a moment of silence, or at least he was silent. "When a problem comes along, you must whip it!! Just whip it!! Into shape!! Whip it up!! It is okay!!! You can whip it!! And whip it good!!" Lucca sang, "How much drugs did he give you?" Magus asked. "And IIIIIIIII will always loooove yoooouuuuuuuuuuuu!" The horrible voice in which Lucca sang her reply in would have made dogs howl.  
  
Several hours later Magus got off the continent and saw a city in the distance. "Lucca! Are you back yet?" Magus asked. "Oh... kinda." Lucca said, her eyes where bloodshot. "How do I land this thing?" Magus asked. "You think I know?" Lucca asked. Magus looked at all of the buttons on the panel, after several moments he managed to get the landing gears down. Suddenly a light flashed on, it said, "Low fuel" "Lucca, I really wish you would give me an idea of what to do here." Magus said, desperately. "Push the button that says eject!" Lucca said. Magus hammered the red button encased in glass, shards of glass became embedded in his hand and it bled. Both the seats flew from the plane as it crashed into a nearby mountain. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Civilization at Last  
  
Magus stood up from his pilot's seat, Lucca was nearby. Magus reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a pouch of sand, he grabbed a handful, and using fire magic, carefully made two oval shaped lenses and inserted them in the frames of Lucca's glasses. Magus took the glasses and put them on Lucca's face, "They won't be perfect, but they should help you see better." Magus said. Lucca wrapped her arms around Magus and kissed him, when she pulled away Magus arched his eyebrows and asked, "Are you sure the drugs wore off?" "I love you." Lucca said. "I'll take that as a no." Magus said blankly. "No Magus, I realized it before he drugged me... I... I love you." Lucca said, a tone of complete seriousness in her voice. Magus was utterly surprised by this, only Schala had ever said that she loved him, no woman had ever said such a thing. "Are... Are you serious?" Magus asked, a tone of surprise in his voice. Lucca's eyes showed only tenderness, "Yes Magus. I am more serious about this than anything." Lucca said. Magus looked at her funny still. Magus stood up, his face turning back to a stone hard scowl, "I'd better go find someone. So we can find a time gate." Magus said. Lucca smiled tenderly, "Come back soon!" Lucca said.  
  
Magus walked out of sight, he wondered to himself, "Why, would anyone, especially HER want anything to do with someone like me? There is no way that we could work out, there is only one-way to stop this silly relationship... I must make her angry enough to not be able to stand to be in the same city as me. I have gotten soft over these past weeks, I must become Magus once again, and I have no time for trivial things like love... I am Magus. Magus loves no one. Although, how would I be wasting time, if I have nothing to do?" Magus asked himself, Magus made his way up to a tavern and walked inside. "What can I get ya?" the bartender asked. "Take the five strongest drinks you have and mix them in a glass." Magus said. "Sure thing, Count." the bartender said. "Why does everybody always refer to me as a god dammed vampire?!" Magus asked angrily. "You look exactly like one." the bartender said, putting all the drinks in a margarita mixer and shaking them up, he poured them in a tall glass and sat it on the bar. Magus placed a handful of money on the table and begin to drink. "Woman troubles?" the bartender asked. "You could say that." Magus said. "So what's the problem?" the bartender asked. "There's this girl, well really woman now, about four years ago we defeated this alien named Lavos, she was seventeen at the time, I always saw her as obnoxious and arrogant, well at any rate, now she says she loves me, I think I've gotten too soft, I mean, I used to be the king of the mystics for god's sake. I was feared by thousands, and now she wants to have a relationship." Magus said. "Lavos? You mean... You're Magus?" the bartender asked. "That's the name I go by." Magus answered. "Who's the girl? Is it Marle or Ayla?" the bartender asked. "Please, those two's intellect combined couldn't equal that of a bag full of rocks." Magus said. "Then it's Lucca?" the bartender asked. "Yes." Magus replied. "Did you know that for eighteen years, you where all gods?" the bartender asked. "What?" Magus asked. "Yeah, you where the god of death. Crono was the king of the gods, and the god of lightning. Marle was the goddess of love and fertility, and the queen of the gods. Ayla was the goddess of strength and the hunt. Robo was the god of technology. Frog was the god of war. And Lucca was the goddess of Fire and Intelligence." the bartender said. "I might have to tell some of them about that." Magus smiled wickedly. "Do you happen to have a time gate around here anywhere?" Magus asked. "I don't know, what does it look like?" the bartender asked. "A blue portal about this big around." Magus said, holding his hands out to form a circle about the size of a basketball. "Ain't seen one." the bartender replied. Magus stood up and left, his cape sweeping behind him as he walked out the door. Magus returned to Lucca. "Ready to go my love?" Lucca asked. "There is no way that I'll ever be hammered enough to withstand the shock of that." Magus thought to himself. "Don't call me that." Magus growled. "Where are we going?" Lucca asked. "That's not important, just hurry up." Magus said. Lucca looked at him funny but still followed, "Damn!" Magus thought to himself, "She's a god damned rock."   
  
Magus and Lucca came upon a junkyard; there was a sign in front that said, "Lab 32 Keep Out!" Magus walked in regardless, with Lucca following close behind. There in front of a jet bike not unlike the one in 2,300 A.D. stood a bizarre robot, he was made of pink painted metal, with the exception of his torso that was orange, it looked like he was wearing a sports jacket, his face was brown, and on top of his head was a black mow hawk, his eyes where covered with a pair of dark sunglasses. The robot turned around and waved a wrench at the people, "Damn kids! Get out of here, stop stealing all my property!!" the robot screamed and hurled the wrench; Magus caught it in his hand. "Johnny?" Magus asked. Johnny adjusted his shades and looked at them, "Magus? Lucca? Oh, what has it been 1,700 years? Sorry about the wrench, those damn kids have been breaking in and stealing all my stuff." Johnny apologized. "Johnny? How is it that you're still alive?" Lucca asked. "I'm a robot, true the humans destroyed all of the robots in 2,699, but they weren't fast enough to catch me. Robo and Atropos also lived, they left for some other continent long ago and I'm the only robot around." Johnny said. "Oh great, you're the only example of a robot around, no wonder they despise machines so much." Magus said. "The same could be said if you where the only example of a human around." Johnny replied. "Hey, you guys wanna race? I improved the jet bike!" Johnny said. "No." Magus replied. "Please c'mon. I haven't raced in nearly 1,700 years. I'm begging you guys." Johnny said, he got down on his "knees" and put his "hands" together in a pleading formation. "No." replied Magus. "I'll race you Johnny." Lucca said. "You are a queen among women babe!" Johnny said. Lucca giggled gleefully and got in the jet bike. Johnny changed into his racing form, the light flashed and both Lucca and Johnny took off down the racetrack, Magus walked through the once mutant infested junkyard, facing only the occasional rat along the way. Magus made his way to the other end and Johnny's head was hung in shame, just as it was every time he lost. "You win." Johnny said. Magus came up, "Now that we've raced you, have you seen any time portals around?" Magus asked. "Not a one... wait... I think there's one in Keeper's Dome." Johnny said. "Thanks Johnny. See ya later." Lucca said. "Hey wait!" Johnny said. "What is it Johnny?" Lucca asked. "I... was wondering... could I come with you guys? You see, I got the jet bike, that way you wouldn't have to take the sewer access, and maybe Belthasar could outfit it with some time travel stuff so I could go to your time." Johnny said. "Why would you want to come to my time?" Lucca asked. "C'mon Lucca. I've got no reason to stay here, XR is deactivated as well as my loyal followers, the people hate me... I have nothing to do but gather rust." Johnny pleaded. "Oh... All right." Lucca said, "Come on." "Great... More dead weight." Magus mumbled to himself.   
  
Magus, Lucca, and Johnny rode the jet bike over the ocean to get to Keeper's Dome. The three walked in the door, there was the old man, or rather, a robotic copy of him, he had much improved in this period, so his body looked just like his human one, not a Nu. "Hello Belthasar." Magus said. Belthasar cocked an eye at Magus, "You seem... familiar... do I... know you from somewhere?" Belthasar asked. "No." Magus replied. "Oh well, what can I do for you?" Belthasar asked, a smile appearing on his wrinkled face as he said it. "We need to return to our time, we need you to make it so our jet bike can travel through time, just like the Epoch." Lucca replied. A look of surprise appeared on Belthasar's face, "Wha? How did you know about the Epoch?" Belthasar asked. "That's not important. Can you help us?" Lucca asked. "Of... Of course! Bring the jet bike in here." Belthasar said.   
  
Johnny, Lucca, and Magus carried the jet bike inside. Belthasar examined the bike, "I will need something. You must go to Death Peak and get me a stone, it is blue with a single golden stone in the center, and I will need it to make time travel an option." Belthasar said. Magus made his way towards the mountain, Lucca followed, then Johnny. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Trek up Death Peak  
  
Death Peak was one thing that had not changed since Lucca and Magus had been up it before. Of course, there where no Lavos spawns, but everything else remained. The frigid wind blew at Magus, but of course, he could care less. Lucca however was freezing to death, and decided maybe she should stop wearing shorts all of the time. Johnny rolled up the hill, the cold of course not bothering his metal body. Eventually the group reached a part where the wind wasn't so unforgiving and continued walking, then as Magus predicted, monsters began to attack, hundreds of them, they had all banded together to defend their home. Magus drew his scythe, bloodlust showing in his eyes, Lucca pulled her gun out of her holster, the monsters charged. The monsters tore at Magus' cloak and face with their claws, raking his flesh, making him bleed. Magus had not only improved his magical, but physical skills as well. Magus did a move similar to Crono's cyclone attack; he spun around in a circle, his scythe ripping monsters apart as he spun. A monster charged at Lucca and she shot it in the face, Johnny was smacking monsters on the head with his tires.   
  
After the long battle, the mountainside was painted red, bodies where strung across the ground, hundreds of corpses. Magus stood holding his scythe, his cape blowing in the wind; he gazed around for any survivors, there weren't any. Magus walked over to Lucca and Johnny, Lucca was on her back, she had been knocked down, Lucca raised a hand up for Magus to help her up, Magus just walked past her and continued up the mountain, Johnny helped Lucca up and Lucca took off after Magus. A hand grabbed Magus by the shoulder, there stood Lucca, a look of fire in her eyes, but Magus prevailed with his icy glare, without a word, Magus turned around and continued to walk. "Now she definitely doesn't love me. Foolish girl, thinking that she could ever have a relationship with the mighty Magus." Magus thought to himself as he walked. Lucca was of course no fool, and she knew exactly what he was doing, "Just you wait, I'll have you yet." Lucca thought to herself, a devious smile, something she had probably picked up from Magus, crept across her lips.  
  
"I found the jewel." Magus said dryly. Lucca walked over to the stone, "Magus, hand me your knife." Lucca demanded, holding her hand out to him. Magus reached in his belt and pulled out his knife that he used to skin lizards with. Lucca jammed the knife between the wall and the rock and began to pry it out. "Come on you stupid thing..." Lucca grit her teeth and pushed the handle of the knife towards the wall, the blade pushing on the rock. Lucca pulled the knife out and jammed it on the other side of the rock, Lucca pulled the knife handle towards herself... with a loud pop the rock came out, Lucca flew across the room, she caught the rock, and tripped, Lucca looked down, many tall stalagmites waiting below her, a pair of gloved hands pushed her out of the way, Lucca attempted to get her footing, but her right foot twisted backwards and a loud crack was heard. Lucca fell to the ground, her ankle was twisted in a direction it shouldn't have been. Lucca screamed as tears streamed from her face, the bone was sticking out and blood was running across the cave floor. Magus rushed over to Lucca and looked her in the eye, "Lucca, I'm going to straighten this out, this will hurt a LOT." Magus said, seizing her ankle. Lucca nodded as she sobbed. Magus quickly twisted Lucca's ankle back to place, a scream echoed throughout death peak.   
  
Lucca had passed out from the pain, she now slept soundly. "Johnny, go get me some small sticks for a splint and some firewood, also find something so you can carry snow in it. Johnny nodded and took off out the entrance to find what Magus asked for. Magus examined Lucca's ankle and cringed, although no one could tell, Magus was freaked out by injuries like that, only he and Alfador knew that. Lucca would be lucky if she could ever walk on that foot again unless they could get some healing magic, he felt stupid for leaving his Ultra Elixir in the jet bike. After about ten minutes, Johnny returned with what Magus asked for. Magus piled the wood on the ground and started a fire; Magus ripped a large piece from his shirt and wrapped it around Lucca's foot. Magus ripped a piece of cloth from Lucca's smock and placed some snow in an old helmet that a skeleton had been wearing. Magus placed the helmet above the fire and let the snow melt, then get warm. Magus dipped the piece of the smock in the water and placed it on the wound.   
  
Several hours later, the twilight had set in and the entire world was asleep. "Magus, I'm gonna shut down for now. Is there anything you need before I do?" Johnny asked. "No Johnny. I'm just going to stay up and watch over her for awhile longer." Magus said, with not even the slightest emotion in his voice. Johnny nodded and went over against the wall; Johnny removed his sunglasses, which Magus had never seen him do. Johnny only had one eye, one was a sort of dim green like Robo's eyes, but the other was cracked and broken. The dim glow went away from Johnny's eye and his head faced downward. Magus stayed up for another hour before sleep got a hold of him, that night it snowed fifty six inches on Death Peak, the caves entrances where all blocked off.  
  
Lucca woke up the next morning, Magus' cape was stretched over her a large stack of firewood was against the north wall, and a fire was next to her, Johnny was leaned up against the west wall and Magus was nowhere to be found. Lucca looked down at her ankle, it had swollen greatly. Magus came into view, "We're trapped." Magus said coldly, "What do you mean trapped?" Lucca asked. "Both the entrances to this cavern are blocked off by snow, we're stuck here." Magus said. "Have you forgotten that we can use fire magic?" Lucca asked. "I already tried that, it won't melt, some sort of mystical force keeps it from melting." Magus said, Lucca cast a fire spell on one of the walls of snow, nothing happened. "I see..." Lucca said. "How does your ankle feel?" Magus asked. "It hurts like hell, but compared to yesterday it feels great." Lucca replied. "Say, how did you become so good at dressing wounds?" Lucca asked. "Slash taught me... He taught me how to treat everything from a shaving knick to a punctured lung since I couldn't use any healing magic." Magus replied. "Magus... thank you." Lucca said. Magus realized that the moment was getting a bit too tender for his liking. Magus grabbed his cape from Lucca and fastened it back around his neck, "Well I only did it so I wouldn't have to carry you around all of the time." Magus said. Lucca smiled; she knew that that was Magus' way of saying "You're welcome."  
  
The day was long, it was boring, the three just mostly sat around the fire and did nothing, Lucca and Johnny talked about robotics for a while, but that was mostly it. Magus just sat and stared at the ceiling most of the time, sharpening his scythe... "You know if you sharpen that scythe any more it'll probably be sharp enough to cut a hole in the fabric of time." Lucca joked. Magus looked down and touched his finger on the blade; warm crimson blood ran down Magus' hand. "You are really screwed up, you know that?" Lucca asked. "I was simply testing the sharpness of the blade." Magus said. "Well when I want to test the penetration of my gun I don't shoot myself in the foot." Lucca said. Magus ignored her.   
  
There was a large rumbling sound, the snowdrift in front of the entrance burst open, and there stood Kraesh. "Now, I do believe that I was about to have my way with that Sheila before I was so rudely interrupted." Kraesh said. "Where's Drago?" Lucca asked. Kraesh laughed and held up a human skull, "What a pansy that boy was." Kraesh said. Magus stood up and said, "Not so fast. I fully intend to finish you off this time." Magus said. Kraesh laughed, "Ye tried twice, what makes ye think ye got what it takes. I'll kick your arse from ere to the moon." Kraesh said. A devious smile crossed Magus' lips, he gripped his scythe tightly. "We'll see about that." Magus said and began chanting. A large black portal opened behind Kraesh and began to suck him in, "What the? What're ye?" Kraesh pawed at the ground, trying to escape the vacuum. "I don't think so." Kraesh said and dove at Lucca and grabbed her as he was again caught by the vortex. "If I'm goin down, I'm takin this Sheila with me." Kraesh said. Magus reluctantly closed the black hole. Magus held onto his scythe tightly, hoping that he would be able to beat this behemoth. Kraesh began to leave the cave the way he had come in, carrying Lucca in his arms. Magus rushed forward and planted the Doom Sicle in Kraesh's neck. Kraesh spun around and smoke shot out his nostrils, "Leave me be, and I may spare you." Kraesh said, his voice was like it was when he saw Drago. Magus shook his head and said, "No. Kraesh if it kills me, you will not lay a finger on Lucca." Kraesh laid a major blow to Magus' face; Magus flew across the room and hit the far wall. Johnny jumped on Kraesh's back and began hitting him in the face. Kraesh grabbed Johnny by the head and slammed him on the ground.   
  
Lucca pulled out her gun and fired at Kraesh's eye, each shot was a hit, and he closed his eye, but again the metal plate opened to reveal a reptilian eye. Kraesh growled at Lucca, "I have had enough of this. You girl will spawn my children. If you do not resist I may let you live." "No way!! I will do no such thing!!!" Lucca screamed at the top of her lungs. Kraesh began to grow, two large leathery wings protruded from his back, his teeth became dagger like, his skin became olive and scaly, his face protruded forward and a single horn came up from the end of his nose, and two parallel horns came from the back of his head. Kraesh was a very large dragon. "So the truth comes out. You're a dragon, and you're trying to keep your species alive, but why Lucca?" Magus asked. Kraesh looked at Magus, "The girl has the power of fire within her, and she has the power within her to make my children powerful." Kraesh replied. "I still will not let you have her Kraesh. Never." Magus said, pulling himself to his feet by the handle of his scythe. "No matter. I will kill you mage, you have been a thorn in my side for far too long." Kraesh said and released a spurt of flame towards Magus, Magus spun his scythe like a large fan and the flames shot off to either side of him. "This ends here dragon." Magus said, pointing to the ground he stood on. Kraesh sat Lucca down on the ground and rushed at Magus; Magus jumped up in the air and planted his scythe deep in the dragon's hide. Kraesh let out a loud roar and hit Magus with his nose, the horn gored Magus and he groaned in pain. Magus hit the wall, and struggled slightly to get up. Magus began to chant, but he was greatly drained, he summoned a spell that Flea had taught him and told him never to use unless it was an emergency, this spell would undoubtedly be his last. Magus turned to Lucca, knowing the spell would surely kill him; he turned to Lucca and said, "I love you." Magus turned to Kraesh and summoned something that looked like a lightning bolt, only it was dark black, and much larger. "Dark Lightning!!" Magus yelled, the bolt hit the scythe in Kraesh's back; he screamed in pain and fell to the ground dead.   
  
Magus fell to his knees, and then planted his face in the dirt. Magus saw everything that happened in his life, a warm smile came to his face. Lucca rushed over to Magus despite her leg and sat down next to him, he was not breathing. Lucca flipped Magus over and pulled his armor off as quickly as she could, Lucca began to perform CPR on Magus, and she could not tell if it was having any affect or not. Lucca continued pumping at his chest with her hands, hoping somehow he would be all right. "Lucca, he has no life force. He's gone..." Johnny said. "No! That's not true, he can't die, he can't leave me!!!" Lucca said, she continued. Johnny put his hand on Lucca's shoulder, Lucca went to push it away but busted into tears. "Why!?! Why does everyone I love always die?!? What kind of god are you to put me through such torture?!?!?!?!?" Lucca screamed towards the heavens, she laid her head on Magus' chest and sobbed loudly, her tears ran down his chest and onto the amulet, the amulet glowed a brilliant green and a vision of Schala showed in the amulet, she gave a tender smile and Magus was engulfed in a green glow. Lucca sat up and looked at the odd sight, the glow dissipated and Magus' body was left there. Slowly Magus opened his eyes, "What the? Why am I here?" Magus asked. Lucca grabbed Magus in her arms and kissed Magus on the lips, she let go and said, "Don't you ever leave me again." Magus smiled and the two locked in a kiss once again, Johnny looked away as to not disturb them.   
  
Epilogue: Home Again  
  
Magus, Lucca, and Johnny made their way down the mountain with the blue stone. The three entered Keeper's Dome and gave the stone to Belthasar. Belthasar made several adjustments to the jet bike and Lucca thanked him for everything. Johnny, Lucca, and Magus got in the jet bike and headed through the time stream and reached Lucca's house in 1003 A.D. Marle and Crono where standing around the ruins of the Epoch staring at the burnt spot in the grass when the jet bike stopped and Magus, Lucca, and Johnny got out.   
  
"Where have you guys been?" Marle asked. "That was a really mean thing to do to Marle, Magus." Crono said. "We got sucked into the distant future and just barely escaped with our lives." Lucca said. "So... Is Magus carrying you because you are hurt, or..." Marle began. "Does this answer your question?" Magus asked and kissed Lucca on the lips. "So who's the leader around here?" Johnny asked. "I am." Crono replied. "Good, I was wondering if you could get me a race track built." Johnny said. "Sure let's go make the plans." Crono said and he and Johnny headed for the castle.   
  
Marle still stood shocked as Lucca and Magus kissed. Magus whispered something in Lucca's ear, Lucca smiled and said, "Marle, delay my welcome back party till a few days after tomorrow. Magus and I will be VERY busy tonight and, we'll be VERY tired tomorrow." Lucca said and smiled. Magus carried Lucca indoors, immediately Marle heard the door in Lucca's bedroom close and she looked up to see Magus pulling the window shades. "I must be delirious, yeah that's it." Marle said as she walked towards the castle.  
  
The End  
  
Well, that's the story... so... Till Next Time... -MasklessDuckman 


End file.
